


Ever After

by SailorSol



Series: To Infinity [1]
Category: Firefly, Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Bot Feels, Bots IN SPACE, Crew as Family, Crossover, Future Fic, Gen, Outdated Technology, Robots, Wash Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-14
Updated: 2014-10-14
Packaged: 2018-02-21 04:14:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2454368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorSol/pseuds/SailorSol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>It all started with a crate they found on a salvage op, a week earlier. If Zoe had known what they would find, she might have reconsidered agreeing to the job.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>AKA Bots IN SPACE!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ever After

**Author's Note:**

  * For [starpaint](https://archiveofourown.org/users/starpaint/gifts).



> All starpaint's fault. All of it. <3

Zoe stands on the catwalk, watching the chaos in the cargo bay below.

It all started with a crate they found on a salvage op, a week earlier. If Zoe had known what they would find, she might have reconsidered agreeing to the job.

“I don’t like it,” Jayne mutters, slinking past Zoe from the general direction of his bunk, down towards the cargo bay. “Not right, spyin’ on a man like that.”

Zoe agrees, but she won’t ever tell Jayne that.

“Kaylee!” Mal shouts. Sounds like he’s in the engine room, but Kaylee is down below, with River and Simon, Jayne standing warily off to one side. “What in the _gorram_ hell is that thing doing in my engine room?” he demands, not even sparing Zoe a glance.

“It’s not a _thing_ , cap’n,” Kaylee protests, hands on her hips in indignant fury. “It’s a highly sophisticated—”

“Creepy, old piece of junk,” Jayne interjects, earning him a scowl from Kaylee.

“—piece of machinery that is helping me keep this boat o’ yours in the air,” she finishes. “Which is easier said than done, most times, since _someone_ won’t let me buy the parts I need.”

Mal at least has the grace to look flustered at Kaylee’s accusation, though the girl is well aware that sometimes paying for food is more important than paying for replacement engine parts. “I told you when you turned them things on, _mei mei_ , that I didn’t wanna see them runnin’ willy nilly around here. And is there a _reason_ that one’s got Christmas lights?” Mal asks, gesturing to the robotic arm that’s between Kaylee and River.

Kaylee beams. “Ain’t it pretty, cap’n? River’n and I thought they’d like a little decoration.”

Simon’s got that constipated look on his face that means he’s trying not to laugh. Probably best that Mal gets distracted before he can notice.

“Excuse me, Captain Reynolds,” the male voice with the vaguely Londonium accent cuts through the room. Everyone save for River flinches and looks instinctively upwards. “I am receiving an incoming transmission that requires your attention on the bridge.”

Mal gives the girls one last heated look before taking the stairs two at a time. Zoe follows him at a slower pace, hearing the captain’s cursing well ahead of reaching the bridge herself. Once she does, she blinks twice; perched on the co-pilot’s chair is something that can only be a dinosaur, head tilted to the side with bird-like interest. She can just make out the controls through the creature, so it’s safe to assume it’s only a hologram.

“—get rid of that thing!” Mal is ranting and gesturing with one hand. Wash looks like Mal just canceled Christmas (again).

“Captain,” Zoe says, the one word drawing him back to himself and the fact that there was a wave waiting for him. Thankfully, the dinosaur fades away, allowing Mal to gather his composure before dealing with business.

“Sir,” the disembodied voice says, once they’ve reviewed the message. “I would advise against taking this contract. The current market value for the requested supplies are well above what is being offered to you, and reports from the Cortex indicate that this individual is less than trustworthy.”

“We don’t get to pick and choose our clients,” Mal grumbles, but he’s got that look on his face, the one Zoe knows means that they’ll be tightening their belts for the next few weeks.

“If I may, sir,” the voice says. It hesitates, sounding uncertain, and Zoe has no idea how a computer can do that.

“You can at least listen to what he’s got to say, cap,” Kaylee says, hovering in the doorway of the bridge. “JARVIS has been right about everything else so far.”

Mal looks to Zoe; she shrugs. “Can’t hurt.”

Mal rubs the bridge of his nose. “Fine. I can’t believe I’m takin’ advice from a _gorram_ computer program, but go ahead.”

“There are a group of settlers on Persephone advertising for transport to one of the outer rim planets. While they are not able to offer a sizeable sum of money, they would be welcome allies in the future, and can also provide food for themselves during transport.”

“Passengers!” Kaylee says gleefully, clapping her hands together in her excitement. Now that the Alliance wasn’t after River and Simon any more, passengers weren’t the worst of options.

Mal sighs; some battles he can recognize as losing ones, at least when Kaylee or River are involved. “Wash?”

“We’re a day out from Persephone,” Wash replies promptly. “Want me to let Inara know we’ll be touching down for a few days?”

Mal huffs and pushes his way off the bridge, but he didn’t say no, and so Wash sets their course and flips on the comm to inform Inara of their new destination. Zoe goes back out to the catwalk; Inara’s there now, watching River dancing with two of the three robots.

“I’m still not used to any of this,” Inara admits, though she’s got a soft smile on her face as River laughs brightly. “How are you so calm about all of this?”

Zoe considers the question for several moments. Kaylee’s rejoined River and has dragged Simon away from the wall to dance with her. One of the robots has moved over towards Jayne, tugging at the edge of his shirt until Jayne joins the others with a reluctant scowl.

Things had been tense since the mess on Miranda, even with _Serenity_ fixed up and the Alliance off their backs. Shepard Book hadn’t been their passenger for months before he died, but they were all still reeling from his loss. When they’d found the crate with three ancient looking robots and a nearly obsolete software package, Zoe had been ready to sell it all for scrap. But River and Kaylee had convinced the captain to keep them. And now, a week later, there was an AI living in their ship’s interface and three robots trundling around. _Calm_ isn’t exactly the word Zoe would use for how she’d been feeling about all this.

“Not the weirdest thing we’ve seen, I suppose,” she offers Inara. The companion huffs a soft laugh, and then goes down to join the dancing when Kaylee calls up to her.

There was laughter in the air again, and JARVIS really did provide good advice in the week they’d had him online. As long as the Alliance didn’t catch wind of any of this, Zoe figures it can’t be all that bad.

One of the bots trundles up next to her, a mug held out in its claw-hand. Zoe allows herself to smile, just a little, as she takes the proffered cup of Kaylee’s home brew. “Thank you, Dummy,” she says, patting the robot just below its elbow-like joint. It beeps happily and rolls away, leaving Zoe alone once more.

No, it really isn’t so bad after all.


End file.
